A highly useful fuel is the simple element hydrogen. Hydrogen can be burned in air to produce heat without any simultaneous production of contamination, the consequence of burning being merely the formation of water. With the impending fuel shortage of the future, hydrogen will inevitably play a more important role in meeting the world's energy demands. As with any energy source one of the requirements of widespread utilization is a method of transmitting the energy. Hydrogen is a gas except at cryogenic temperatures which are necessary to maintain it in a liquid or solid state. Because of the difficulty and expense of producing and maintaining cryogenic temperatures, the most effective utlization of hydrogen will occur as a gaseous fuel. Hydrogen gas can be transported through pipelines in the same way that natural gas is transmitted. However, since hydrogen has a lower BTU value per volume than natural gas, a significantly greater volume of the hydrogen gas must be transported, requiring larger pipelines and compression stations to move a selected quantity of fuel.
Another problem with the use of hydrogen gas is that of storage. As previously stated, hydrogen has a relatively low BTU value per volume and, consequently, storing hydrogen gas in large quantities is expensive.
The present invention is directed towards an improved means of transporting hydrogen gas and in an arrangement wherein the means of transportation simultaneously may function as a storage medium.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved means of transporting hydrogen.
More particularly, an object of this invention is to provide a method of transportation including a system employing the use of metallic hydrides and in an arrangement wherein the pipeline functions not only as a means of transporting hydrogen fuel but also as a means of storage of the fuel.
These general objects, as well as other and more specific objects of the invention will be fulfilled in the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.